I can still get Ohio Blue tip matches in south Texas!
I can still get Ohio Blue tip matches in south Texas!
/\ Yep, it really bugs some people but the cheapest and most reliable fire starter is a Bic lighter!
A Bic lighter with a piece of rubber inner tube slipped over it gives you a very reliable fire starter and some tinder even in wet conditions.
I have a couple of match safes and they are "old school" and top notch but if the chips were down I think I would rather have a Bic lighter.
No problem finding "strike anywhere" matches around here, but they are not the same as they were a few years ago. They will not strike on a zipper like I used to do, and they will not strike on the side of a steel trash barrel. They seem to strike only on the box, maybe.
I am looking too.
Thanks
Ivan
Number #513
Yeah I figured it out. It would not be ALASKA……... unless it was the absolutely the toughest it could be and worst possible case scenario!
My preference is for wind proof matches. They have a match head about an inch long.
Tatume, try a tobacconist shop. They might have them. Or Cabellas, is where I found a package. Came in a little pill bottle sized container with sandpaper on either end.
A neat little magic trick.
Take a silver quarter, has to real silver, no not the counterfeit ones they make nowadays.
Rip off a piece of the striker strip for a box of matches.
Burn the striker material stuff on top of the quarter.
You should have a greasy smudge on the quarter now.
If you rub the smudge with your finger the quarter will start to smoke.
Haven't done this since I was a kid, so if the formula for the strike surface has changed it may not work.
[QUOTE=. They seem to strike only on the box, maybe.[/QUOTE]
Ya have to read the box--- they look the same, but one will say 'strike anywhere' the other says 'strike on box'.
In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.
OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
EVERYONE!
Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.
mil surplus stores have the windproof and strike anywhere. at least in my area they do.
I still have a few big boxes of Ohio Blue Tips!
Grab them while you can, if you see them. Penley appears to be out of business. They closed the mill that made cloths pins with stainless steel springs.
When I worked in retail years ago I remember the store filling with smoke and being evacuated to the parking lot. Seems that one of the stockboys placed a case of strike anywhere matches on top of a high stack of boxes; someone bumped into the boxes, the case of matches fell to the floor and ignited on impact.
We can buy "strike anywhere" matches locally. "Strike anywhere" printed right on the box. The matches even have the white tip. But they WON'T strike anywhere. They will strike ONLY on the box, and then you have to be careful or the matchstick will just break.
Farm and Home in Alton, IL sells them.
A butane lighter is what I use. I have several boxes of the strike anywhere matches, and even a few boxes of strike on box only. NONE of them are reliable. They either won't strike, or will strike but then immediately go out, or the stick breaks. ALL of those matches have always been stored where it is dry. NONE have ever been wet.
I used to buy Hurricane matches at an outdoor store. They weren’t cheap, but half the match was covered with the flammable substance. They would strike anywhere and not go out for a long time. They were great when conditions were marginal to start a campfire.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |